DECATUR, Ill. – The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team defeated Wartburg (Iowa) College for the second time in three days by a score of 11-1 at Workman Baseball Field to become champions of the Decatur Regional and advance to the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.
The victory marks a sweep for the Yellow Jackets, who won three games in consecutive days. It is also the first time since 2023 that the program has advanced to the NCAA Super Regional, having made it to the NCAA Division III College World Series.
With the bats, the BW offense had 11 hits, marking the 31st time they have had double-digit hits this season, which saw multi-hit games from Junior catcher Mason Fixx (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), Senior OAC Player of the Year Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City), Senior third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St Edward), and Junior second-baseman Carson Petrecca (Willowick/Eastlake North).
On the mound, they had four arms the whole game, which included Senior Two-Way Player Nolan Kellicker (Dover), Freshman right-hander Matthew Anzalone (Buffalo, N.Y./St Joseph's Collegiate Institute), Junior right-hander Will Henderlich (Madison), and Senior right-hander Tyler Walker (Fairlawn/Copley), who helped hold the Knights offense to just one run.
"I go all in on these guys, and they've given me everything they've had," coach Harrison said, "we're very excited to be moving on into the next round."
Scoring Summary
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Bottom 1st – Sophomore first baseman Matt DelDuca (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) started the scoring off with a three-run home to give BW a 3-0 lead early
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Bottom 4th – Junior catcher Mason Fixx (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) hit an RBI double to score a run and give BW a three-run lead
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Bottom 4th – Senior shortstop Matt Terzola (Uniontown/Archbishop Hoban) had an RBI single straight up the middle to make it 5-1 Yellow Jackets
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Bottom 4th – Senior third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St Edward) drove in a run on a fielder's choice to give the Brown and Gold a 6-1 lead
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Bottom 4th – Junior designated hitter Colin West (Westborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) had a fielder's choice himself, which scored Kolenich to make it a six-run game
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Bottom 6th – Fixx stole third and advanced on an overthrow to make it an 8-1 lead in favor of the Brown and Gold
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Bottom 7th – Senior right fielder John Panstares (Westlake/St Ignatius) reached on an error to give BW a 9-1 lead
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Bottom 7th – Fixx advanced to second on yet another throwing error to give the team its tenth run of the day
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Bottom 8th – Petrecca had an RBI single with two outs in the inning to give the Yellow Jackets a double-digit run advantage
At the Plate
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Senior OAC Player of the Year Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City) finished the game with two hits, a walk, and a run scored
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DelDuca finished the game going 1-for-2 with a walk before being taken out by a pinch runner, his second consecutive game of reaching base twice
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Fixx was 2-for-4 on the day, getting his second RBI double and his second multi-hit game this tournament
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Junior second-basemen Carson Petrecca (Willowick/Eastlake North) was 1-for-3 with a walk and a triple, his second of the season
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Kolenich went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk
On the Mound
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Senior Two-Way Player Nolan Kellicker (Dover) took the ball for the Yellow Jackets and was very solid throughout the contest, going 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and allowing just one run to be the winning pitcher
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Freshman right-hander Matthew Anzalone (Buffalo, N.Y./St Joes Collegiate Institute) came on in relief and pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, allowing one hit and one walk
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Junior right-hander Will Henderlich (Madison) took over with one out in the eighth inning and struck out one batter while allowing three hits
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Senior right-hander Tyler Walker (Fairlawn/Copley) finished the game by pitching one inning and struck out two
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets are back in action in the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals next Friday, May 22. They will take on the winner of the Shenandoah-Messiah game later this afternoon. Location and a start time are to be determined.
